Fighting for Religious Freedom in NYS Non-Public Schools, What Happened to the Separation Between Church & State?

The Great Oxymoron…

Agudath Israel of America and Aron Wieder, Lobbying NYS Senate for Non-Public Education… The Great Oxymoron…

by LostMessiah.com

There is something sickly ironic about the same organization, Agudath Israel, with a history of sexual abuse of children, utterly beyond the pale, descending upon Albany today, to lobby for…. education of Hasidic children. You know the ones? The same children whom Agudath Israel would prefer to not educate (except in the Torah and rote prayer), to silence, to protect from the “heavy weight of outside influences.”

There is something nauseatingly hair-raising about Aron Wieder, the man who has actively and unabashedly spoken out against a NYS monitor in East Ramapo, most especially a monitor with veto power, appearing before the Senate to discuss the state of the East Ramapo schools. Lest we forget that he played a hand in the destruction of the school system the monitor has been appointed to try and fix….

There is something morbidly unsettling about Aron Wieder, a man who has almost single-handedly created a war between the ultra-Orthodox Jews on one side and the secular Jews and non-Jews on the other; being given the opportunity to lobby before Senate. He and his Agudath Israel minions have sparked a level of hatred towards Jews, both religious and secular, with rhetoric both within Rockland County and without.

In Rockland County, Aron Wieder has worked with other Democrats in the Rockland County Legislature to hold the County hostage to the demands of the ultra-Orthodox and secondarily the Democrats, financially impacting both public and non-Public education alike. Now he is in Albany discussing the very same system he repeatedly seeks to topple? He has used the term anti-Semitism more times than a broken record to avoid any responsibility for the destruction of the East Ramapo school district, any culpability for the clouding of cross-cultural relations in Rockland County and any remote understanding of the harm being caused to the Public School children. Yet, he is being given an audience by the Senate?

Like a jumbo shrimp, a genuine imitation, a guest host, Aron Wieder, the education oxymoron, is the last person who (and Agudath Israel the hindmost organization which) should have been in New York lobbying on behalf of children. Let’s remember…. These are the same children who, despite living in the United States where English is the national language, can barely put together two sentences after graduation from high school. These are the same children who do not study “substantially similar” classes as those taught in the public schools, but are nonetheless, funded by New York State taxpayers. These are the same children who are insulated from society, abused, silenced, intimidated and then ultimately not properly educated. These are the same children who go into their schools, non-public schools, completely unprotected from their Rabbis and teachers.

By even being permitted an audience with the NYS Senate, Aron Wieder is provided additional wherewithal to enable the Hasidic community to continue to decimate the New York State, and perhaps the greater US, educational system. By hearing Aron Wieder out, the NYS Senate is turning its back on both the Public School children and the non-Public school children; the former who are studying in schools without the most basic materials, grossly unprepared for college, and the latter who are not being taught secular subjects and are not being protected from sexual abuse. By giving Aron Wieder’s voice credence, the NYS Senate is not only fostering the destruction of the public school system, not only perpetuating violence against Hasidic children, but further creating a rift between the ultra-Orthodox and the non-Orthodox Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

Until people like Aron Wieder and his minions stop being exalted to a status of grandeur, few Hasidic children will be properly educated, few Hasidic children will have the courage to speak out against abuse and precious few Hasidic children will have a future beyond the walls of their insular community. Until voices like Aron Wieder and those of his minions are silenced, the betrayal of the public school children will continue.

Let’s all hope that those in the Senate pay attention to the numerous bloggers, secular and educational community leaders and activists who have decided it is time to say ‘MASPIK’ enough!

Perhaps, since the NYS Senate gave Aron Wieder and Agudath Israel their pedestal, the Federal Reserve should call in Madoff to speak at a forum about integrity. That might be more appropriate.

[…] on tomorrow. They have practically the entire New York Legislature in their pocket, through the sham Agudath Israel organization; we struggle to have one representative on a local level who hasn’t sold their soul. They […]